18-23 June: Mpumalanga Kruger National Park (6 Days) 24 June: Market Day (1 Day) 6-14 July: Namibia-Classic Kaleidoscope (9 Days).

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1 PAGE 1 I n s i d e t h i s i s s u e : 2017 PLANNING 1 NATAL Including Midlands Meander 2 N E W S L E T T E R M A Y SUTHERLAND Short Break 2 MARKET DAYS MPUMALANGA KRUGER NATIONAL PARK NAMIBIA Classic Kaleidoscope SPRINGBOK FLOWERS WILD FLOWER ADVENTURE 4 SPRING FLOWERS HOGSBACK IN SEPTEMBER New Additions Update 2017 Planning UPCOMING TOURS The following schedule is current as at 1st May We will continue to provide updates & additional information in future newsletters, as planning progresses: 2017 (Tour d a t e s in blue are confirmed / In black are Provisional) 7-12 May: Natal Midlands (6 Days) TOUR FULLY BOOKED SPRING FLOWERS WEST COAST PARK FLOWERS May: Sutherland-Short Break ALMOST FULL 18-2 June: Mpumalanga Kruger National Park (6 Days) 24 June: Market Day (1 Day) 6-14 July: Namibia-Classic Kaleidoscope (9 Days). HOGSBACK August: Springbok Spring Flowers (6 Days) WHALE WATCHING August: Wild Flower Adventure (4 Days) 28 Aug-1 Sept: Spring Flowers (5 Days) 2017 PLANNING- STAGE TOURS: 5 MYSTERY VENUE OLD YEAR S EVE More in next issue August: West Coast Park Flowers (Postberg) (1 Day) 0 September 5 October: Hogsback & Surrounds (6 Days) September: Whale Watching ( Days) - Short Break 2017 PLANNING STAGE 10 December: Mystery Venue (1 Day) 0 December 16 1 January 17: Old Year s Eve ( Days) Experience Friendship & Fun with Traveltime PAGE 2

2 PAGE 2 NATAL Midlands Meander 7-12 May (6 days) Including a Battlefields tour Option 1 Confirmed TOUR NOW FULLY BOOKED May is an excellent month to visit Natal. It is Autumn high day temperatures of summer are a thing of the past and day temperatures of high teens and night temperatures that drop down a bit lower! We have already made a provisionally booking at the five star rated Fourdoun Hotel in the heart of the Kwa Zulu Natal Midlands. You will fly from Cape Town and meet a Hylton Ross coach at the King Shaka International Airport. Visit many places along the Natal Midlands route including the Drakensberg Boys Choir, where we will attend an afternoon performance. Have the option to do a Battlefields Tour. Enjoy lunch at Cleopatra Mountain Farmhouse. Dinners at great restaurants, including Skye Bistro, Fourdoun s own fine dining restaurant. Visit the Mandela Capture Site! Plus a few surprises Previous Tour: SUTHERLAND SHORT BREAK TOUR 27th 29th May ( days) Winter is the best time to go star gazing ALMOST FULL We have visited Sutherland 6 times over the past 8 years and have spent various periods from 1 to nights in the coldest town in South Africa. Our planned tour this year will see us staying two nights, with the tour duration being days. The main purpose of our visit is of course to see Matjiesfontein, the SALT telescope and to experience star gazing in the Karoo with Jurg Wagener and his computerized telescopes. Read previous tour reports on our old website: (1) sutherland_09.htm and (2) The period chosen to do this tour falls into the NEW MOON period and is an excellent time to view the stars. Winter is also the very best time to be in Sutherland as the winter skies are at their clearest and offer the best time for viewing! You will certainly enjoy your evening with Jurg, the local Astronomy expert. A number of computerized telescopes allow you to get first hand information (and viewings) of some stars and planets! Be pre-warned that the temperatures can plummet in Sutherland at night, so make sure you bring along warm jackets, beanies, scarves and gloves. MPUMALANGA - KRUGER NATIONAL PARK 18th 24th June 2017 (7 Days). Including Panorama Route, Blyde River Canyon & much More confirmed Escape the COLD winter in Cape Town and go to the Mpumulanga area. Cape Town has a max temperature of 15 0 whilst Nelspruit s max is 2 0. Fly into Mpumalunga and stay in Hazyview, which is close to the Paul Kruger and Phabeni Gates of the Kruger National Park! Travel into the Kruger Park bush, with experienced guides, in an open vehicle. Explore the Panorama Route - Blyde River Canyon; Bourkes Luck Potholes; God s Window and an elephant encounter at Elephant Whispers in Hazyview (Full interaction). Visit our website: Travel in Style with Traveltime PAGE

3 PAGE MARKET DAYS Saturday 24th June The second of planned visits throughout the Year Planned for alternate months Week end markets are fast becoming the place to visit in the Western Cape. There are many markets offering food, craft, entertainment and a mix of other items. There are good, bad and exceptional markets. Some are open on Saturdays, others on Sundays and others fortnightly or monthly. We have visited many of these and have decided to share the better ones with you. The plan is to have 4 market days in 2017 (alternate months). We will visit two markets today. 1. O R A N J E Z I C H T C I T Y F A R M M A R K E T G r a n g e r B a y 2. B A Y H A R B O U R M A R K E T ( H o u t B a y ) For full details, please request a priced tour brochure Experience a fabulous day out! NAMIBIA Classic Kaleidoscope Tour 6th 14th July 2017 (9 Days). Experience the Skeleton Coast & Namibian Wildlife Now open for Highlights: Fly in to Windhoek & overnight / Tour will visit Swakopmund (optional local activities, Dolphin Cruises, Desert Excursions) / Damaraland, Brandberg Mountains, Twyfelfontein Heritage Site, (where Bushman communities engraved and painted over 2500 pictures some 6000 years ago!), / Living Museum of the Damara, the Petrified Forest, (a geological phenomenon depicting 2011 tour group, in front of the Three Rondawels the metamorphosis Previous of tour: living material into stone) / encounter the Welwitschia mirabilis plant, the oldest living desert plant on earth. Travel towards the Etosha National Park, famous for its vast amount and variety of wildlife. Spend one night outside of the Park at the Etosha Safari Camp. (Leisure activities). Spend two days game viewing in the Park whilst staying at the Mokuti Etosha Lodge. Return to Windhoek and visit the local craft markets before checking in to your hotel. Tour length 7 days plus 1 night pre tour and one night post tour in Windhoek = 9 days. Flights from Cape Town and other major Cities. SPRING FLOWERS NAMAQUALAND August 2017 (6 days). Springbok Floral Splendour 8 Confirmed Passengers Every year nature plays a magic part in transforming the normally arid dry area in the Northern Cape into a glorious tapestry of colour and beauty Each turn you take in the road will yield a different picture which you will treasure for days and months to come. These tours are very popular and it is most important that you secure you place on this tour ASAP. We have to book accommodation 12 months in advance! We travel up the west coast through Clanwilliam and Vanrhynsdorp into Springbok, where we spend nights. Visits are planned into Hester Malan Garden in the Goegap Nature Reserve, Namaqua National Park, Skilpad Wildflower Reserve near Kamieskroon. We will also visit the Kokerboom Nursery in Vanrhynsdorp and the Ramskop Wildflower Reserve in Clanwilliam on our return to Cape Town. You will also be able to stock up on some Rooiibos tea in the area in which it is grown. PAGE 4

4 PAGE 4 WILD FLOWER ADVENTURE Choice of 4 tour dates 7,14,21,28 August 2017 ( Each tour is 4 days). Cape West Coast Now Open for W i t n e s s a u n i q u e s p e c t a c l e o f n a t u r e This is an amazing adventure from Cape Town into the intriguing West Coast region of the Western Cape to witness an extraordinary spectacle of nature. In the South African spring, over August and September, a brilliant array of diverse wild flowers transform this evocative semi-arid landscape into an unforgettable portrait of extraordinary colour and beauty. Unique beauty of vast fields of spectacular wild flowers Extraordinary floral diversity including endemic succulents Warm West Coast hospitality and wine tasting along the Olifantsriver Wine Route SPRING FLOWERS NIEUWOUDTVILLE AREA 28 August 1st September 2017 (5 days). Flower and bulb spectacular August and September is Flower Season in the Cape, with fields of flowers appearing each year when Nature waves her magic wand. No two years are ever the same and the spectacle is dependent on the fields receiving sufficient rain beforehand. We travel up the west coast, stopping at Postberg, world renowned Flower Reserve in the West Coast National Park, for our first viewing of the mass flower displays. Our first night will be spent in Langebaan, before we head up to Vanrhynsdorp, where we will be based for nights. Highlights of this 5 day tour will include the Clanwilliam Flower Show, Vanrhynsdorp succulents, Quiver Tree forest, Hantam Botanical Gardens, Matjiesfontein Flower Reserve, Papkuilsfontein Farm in Nieuwoudtville, amongst others. We will also visit the Kokerboom Nursery in Vanrhynsdorp and the Ramskop Wildflower Reserve in Clanwilliam on our return to Cape Town. You will also be able to stock up on some Rooibos tea in the area in which it is grown. SPRING FLOWERS IN THE WEST COAST PARK Saturday 26th August 2017 (1 day) The annual flower show in the Postberg Reserve The Annual Flower Spectacular Every year in August and September the West Coast National Park opens the Postberg Flower Reserve. Here the colors of Spring burst forth and you are assured of seeing an awesome display of spring flowers. In addition to the Spring Flowers the Park borders on the Langebaan Lagoon and it is a photographer s delight. The views of the waves crashing on the rocks coupled with fields of beautiful yellow/blue and white flowers can paint an awesome canvas for you! On arrival in the Park the coach will go directly to the Postberg Flower Reserve. Read the 2016 tour report, on our website: postberg-flower-reserve-2016 We will have lunch at the Geelbek Restaurant in the West Coast Park. or see our website POSTBERG WILD FLOWER RESERVE PAGE 5

5 PAGE 5 HOGSBACK 0 September 5 October 2017 (6 days). Experience the Silence & Tranquility We have 4 passengers booked but need a few more to confirm this tour. Please confirm your interest in this tour asap. Hogsback is a magical world of mountains and forests. It is situated high up on the Amathole mountains of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, and is surrounded by centuries-old indigenous Afro-montane forests. Spring, of course, is the time when Hogsback puts on its prettiest clothes and it will astound you with flowers and beauty. Lilies grow everywhere and all their gardens are a paradise of colours. The annual Spring Festival runs from 2 rd September to 14 th October so our timing is perfect! Tour highlights include: Spring Festival / Spectacular Views /The Edge Hotel / The Arboretum / Applegarth Gardens / Eco Shrine / Forest Walks / Magnificent Gardens / Labyrinth / Arts & Crafts Trail / The Arminal Hotel / Camelot & Fairy Realm, beautiful waterfalls, amongst others. WHALE WATCHING (With optional Boat Based excursion) 15th 17th September ( days). Dates may change Our annual whale watching excursion Hermanus, plays host to thousands of visitors (in 2016 they welcomed visitors) who flock to the seaside resort to exhilarate in the unique natural environment and watch the whales. Whale Festival dates: 29th September 1st October Having personally visited Hermanus during this time, we have been faced with long queues of traffic and people wanting to either get sight of the whales or find a place to have a meal. With this in mind we have decided to visit the area out of festival time, to see the whales in peace and quiet. Our base will be in Walker Bay, at selective Lodges on the seashore in De Kelders which is situated between Hermanus and Gansbaai, 160km from Cape Town. De Kelders is known as the best land-based whale watching destination in the world. View the whales from the balcony of our accommodation or if you are adventurous join the boat based whale watching for an unforgettable journey amongst the whales in the Bay. See the shark cage divers in operation. See one of our previous tour reports / photos and video on our website: portfolio/whale-watching-2014 Experience the Friendship & Fun, or visit our website: Tours currently in the planning stage: Early planning is necessary to secure venues / accommodation Details to follow as planning progresses MYSTERY VENUE TOUR 10th December (1 day). Our annual must attend celebration OLD YEARS EVE Short Break 0 December 17 2nd January 18 (4 days). Last year was a great success Last year we had 45 passengers! Maximum 12 passengers END